The Drug "Cheese"
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Cheese. No, not the healthy dairy product but a brownish powder in a folded
scrap of note book paper. At least one death is attributed to this new craze
among high school and middle school students.
In the Dallas, Texas Independent School District there have been 71 reported
cases involving students using or selling "cheese" this school year. What
makes cheese so serious is that it is base on an old drug, heroin. It is a
combination of an over the counter cold medication such as Tylenol PM with
an active ingredient of acetaminophen diphenhydramine HCI and heroin
which may be from 1%-8% pure.
It is attractive to younger students because it produce a euphoria and costs
only about $2 per hit. Each hit is one tenth of a gram. (To help visualize the
size, divide the sweetener contained in a single serving packet into ten parts.)
The most common method of ingesting the drug is to snort it, either directly
or with aid of a straw or tube.
The problem is that heroin is very addictive. Quite often with a single dose. In
fact, withdrawal symptom can follow a hit as soon as 12 hours later. The
headaches, chills, nausea and other discomforts causes the user to seek
another hit to escape the pain. Thus the cycle of hardcore addiction has
"started." Police in the Dallas area have dubbed cheese as a starter drug.
Here is what you should look for:
Tan-brown powder
Typically folded into notebook paper
One hit, $2; one quarter-gram, $5
Pushers: Older teens
Users: So far, only Hispanic middle and high school kids, as young as 13
years of age
Effect: Euphoria, disorientation, lethargy, sleepiness, hunger
Desire: Cheese is highly addictive. Withdrawal symptoms may onset as
soon as within 12 hrs
Withdrawal symptoms: Headache, chills, muscle pains, muscle spasms,
anxiety, agitation
How it's taken: Snorted into the nose, sometimes by using a tube (like
snorting cocaine)
Many users have attempted to quit but are overwhelmed by the physical
withdrawal symptoms and return to regular use within one to three days
Since the principle ingredient is an opiate, the drug testing materials offered
by Keys can be used to detect the use of cheese. The Saliva Based testers
can be used in public places, without regard to gender and eliminates both
privacy and health issues involved in handling urine samples.
The death in Dallas associated with Cheese may have happened because
the student was also drinking alcohol. This further highlights the dangerous
nature of this drug. Students do not understand that heroin or other drugs
should never be taken in combination with alcohol. Unfortunately, the
incidents of alcohol among students is growing and the age is dropping.
Several studies show that by age 13 about 30% of students have consumed
alcohol and by the 11th grade, that number has consumed alcohol on school
grounds with about 24% reporting being drunk at school.
scrap of note book paper. At least one death is attributed to this new craze
among high school and middle school students.
In the Dallas, Texas Independent School District there have been 71 reported
cases involving students using or selling "cheese" this school year. What
makes cheese so serious is that it is base on an old drug, heroin. It is a
combination of an over the counter cold medication such as Tylenol PM with
an active ingredient of acetaminophen diphenhydramine HCI and heroin
which may be from 1%-8% pure.
It is attractive to younger students because it produce a euphoria and costs
only about $2 per hit. Each hit is one tenth of a gram. (To help visualize the
size, divide the sweetener contained in a single serving packet into ten parts.)
The most common method of ingesting the drug is to snort it, either directly
or with aid of a straw or tube.
The problem is that heroin is very addictive. Quite often with a single dose. In
fact, withdrawal symptom can follow a hit as soon as 12 hours later. The
headaches, chills, nausea and other discomforts causes the user to seek
another hit to escape the pain. Thus the cycle of hardcore addiction has
"started." Police in the Dallas area have dubbed cheese as a starter drug.
Here is what you should look for:
Tan-brown powder
Typically folded into notebook paper
One hit, $2; one quarter-gram, $5
Pushers: Older teens
Users: So far, only Hispanic middle and high school kids, as young as 13
years of age
Effect: Euphoria, disorientation, lethargy, sleepiness, hunger
Desire: Cheese is highly addictive. Withdrawal symptoms may onset as
soon as within 12 hrs
Withdrawal symptoms: Headache, chills, muscle pains, muscle spasms,
anxiety, agitation
How it's taken: Snorted into the nose, sometimes by using a tube (like
snorting cocaine)
Many users have attempted to quit but are overwhelmed by the physical
withdrawal symptoms and return to regular use within one to three days
Since the principle ingredient is an opiate, the drug testing materials offered
by Keys can be used to detect the use of cheese. The Saliva Based testers
can be used in public places, without regard to gender and eliminates both
privacy and health issues involved in handling urine samples.
The death in Dallas associated with Cheese may have happened because
the student was also drinking alcohol. This further highlights the dangerous
nature of this drug. Students do not understand that heroin or other drugs
should never be taken in combination with alcohol. Unfortunately, the
incidents of alcohol among students is growing and the age is dropping.
Several studies show that by age 13 about 30% of students have consumed
alcohol and by the 11th grade, that number has consumed alcohol on school
grounds with about 24% reporting being drunk at school.
CHEESE OVERVIEW
Examples of how "Cheese" may appear
